


The Primeval Australia Project: Episode One

by ebonyandunicorn



Series: The Primeval Australia Project [1]
Category: Original Work, Primeval, Primeval: New World
Genre: Australia, Dinosaurs, Gen, I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT TEAMS, Original Character(s), Primeval Australia, Romance, Siblings, Spinoff, Team, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 23:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 12,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6171205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebonyandunicorn/pseuds/ebonyandunicorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the beloved ITV series Primeval and its Canadian counterpart Primeval: New World, <i>The Primeval Australia Project</i> is a spinoff work that follows the story of Tash and Joseph Hope, two siblings whose lives were changed forever ten years ago when their parents disappeared through a glowing light in the sky. They soon become part of a team of six diverse Australians who are thrown into an adventure of unbelievable twists and terrifying consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Scene 1 (Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided to commit: I'm going to write a Primeval spinoff series based in Australia. 
> 
> Originally started as a (failed) NaNoWriMo entry in 2015, _The Primeval Australia Project_ follows the story of six diverse Australians, all original characters, who are thrown into an adventure of unbelievable twists and terrifying consequences. The Project will be written like a regular fic but with a TV adaptation in mind, with the setting of each "scene" in **bold** at the top of the chapter. Because each "scene" is being published as one chapter, there will be some very short chapters interspersed with longer ones. So far there are six planned "episodes", with the first to be released gradually over the next few months. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> NOTE: Like Primeval: New World, _The Primeval Australia Project_ will be targeted towards a slightly more adult audience than the original Primeval. Content warnings (aside from things expected from the canon universe, such as animal violence/death) will be given at the start of each chapter if necessary.

  
** THE PRIMEVAL AUSTRALIA PROJECT **

**EPISODE ONE**  


**Marramarra National Park**  
 **Ten Years Ago**

The summer sun is beating down on the small family as they make their way through the bush. All four are nature people, more at home in the bush than the city. Not one of them is unfamiliar with the dirt trail that winds its adventurous way through Marramarra National Park. Not one of them can imagine the disaster that is about to befall them. 

The boy, the youngest, charges through the park with the innocent exuberance only a twelve-year-old can possess. Behind him runs his sister, sixteen and coltish, her bubbling bright laugh louder than a kookaburra’s call. Their parents are following – slower perhaps, but every bit as engaged and at home in the wilderness. 

Suddenly the boy stops. 

Before him is an apparition, a glowing light in the sky. It is whispering softly of another world. 

Behind him, his sister pulls up short. Their parents come forward to stand protectively in front of them. Cautious and curious, mother and father approach the light. 

Before the boy can blink, it has swallowed them. 

Before the girl can scream, it is gone.


	2. Scene 2 (Tash's House)

**Tash Hope’s House  
Present Day **

There were barely four weeks left before the school year began, but Tash Hope’s mind was as far from education as it was possible to be. Though she sat at her desk surrounded by half-finished lesson plans, her eyes were unfocused and her thoughts preoccupied. For teachers, parents, and students-to-be all across the state, the second of January marked the precious monthly point before the beginning of term. For Tash, it marked ten years since the last time she had seen her parents. 

Slowly, her restless gaze wandered over the desk. Sketches and syllabuses, her calling and her joy, were ignored. Pencils and paintbrushes were scattered across the wooden surface, but she didn’t lift a finger to pick them up. Even when she cast her eyes up to the calendar that dominated the noticeboard over her desk, today’s date, highlighted in falsely cheery yellow, did not catch her attention. She reached forward and peeled up a corner of the calendar to reveal the image beneath, and there, at last, she let her eyes rest. 

The grey pencil sketch was more of a concept than a proper drawing, but the reality of it was seared into her brain. Jagged fragments of light scattered around a glowing centre pulsed and shimmered in her mind’s eye, emitting an otherworldly hum that whispered of danger and the unknown. It was a thing of utter mystery, defying explanation. If the image – and the events that surrounded it – had not been so strong in her memory, Tash could have been forgiven for thinking it had all been a dream. 

But the greedy, glowing portal that had swallowed up her parents was nothing short of a nightmare. 

_BZZZ! BZZZ!_

Tash jumped, startled from reverie by the harsh vibration of her mobile phone. When she glanced at the screen, her heart skipped a beat. 

The glowing words read _Joseph Hope_. 

Besides Christmases and forced birthday calls, she could count on one hand the number of times she had spoken to her brother in the past four years. Since turning 18 and moving to university, he had never looked back. Their relationship, once closer than peas in a pod, was strained at best. Worse, both of them were too proud to admit they were wrong, and so there was little that could go towards mending their friendship. 

She snatched up the phone, a trembling thumb swiping across to answer. “Hello?” 

_“Tash!”_

Even in the one syllable, she could hear the shake in her brother’s voice. “Joseph? What’s going on?” 

_“You have to come,”_ he said desperately. _“Marramarra. Now.”_

Tash closed her eyes. Of course Joseph would be there. This was an argument they had almost every year. On the anniversary of their parents’ disappearance, Tash visited the cemetery, where two stones marked the empty graves of Stephanie and Jack Hope. Joseph, on the other hand, returned to the place where they had disappeared. Tash had never been back. It made her skin crawl to imagine it. 

“Joseph, I can’t –” 

_“Please, Tash!”_ There was more than desperation in his voice; there was fright, a genuine fear that made Tash shiver. The tone of his voice took her back a decade – to the memory of a terrified twelve-year-old calling for his parents. _Come back. Come back._

There were tears in her eyes. “Joey,” she said, “you’re scaring me. Please tell me what’s going on.” 

She heard him take a deep breath, and then somehow she knew what he was going to say. 

_“It’s back, Tash,”_ her brother whispered. _“It’s back.”_


	3. Scene 3 (Marramarra)

**Marramarra National Park**

Jagged fragments of light. A glowing centre. Danger and the unknown. Standing before it, Joseph Hope felt himself transported back ten years. He was twelve again, cheerful and wild, his sister by his side. They were secure in the knowledge that the world was familiar and their parents were immortal. He watched his mother and father step forward in his memory, his mum’s eyes wide in awe, his dad’s face bright with curiosity. _Don’t do it,_ the Joseph of the present thought. _Mum. Dad. Don’t –_

He watched them step through. He watched the light die. 

But that was in the past. In the present, his sister was no longer by his side, but kilometres away at the other end of the phone. _“It can’t be,”_ he heard her say. 

“Tash, I’m right in front of it!” Fear made his voice harsher than he had meant it to be. He took a breath and tried to speak calmly. “And… I need you.” Hearing her hesitation, he gritted his teeth and played the ace. “If you don’t come down here, I’m calling Cam.” 

It had the desired effect. _“Cam?”_ Tash yelped. Even with the tremor in her voice, he could hear the disparagement. _“Are you serious? That boy is an idiot.”_

“So you’ll come?” 

A pause. A sigh of defeat. _“Yeah. I’ll come. Don’t do anything until I get there.”_

Anxious and bossy – that was the Tash he knew. Joseph ended the call, then stared at the phone in his hand for a minute before pressing the camera button and holding it up towards the light. 

Before he could take a photo, there was a horrifying tug and the phone nearly jumped out of his hand. Joseph’s eyes widened and he took a few scared steps back, hiding the phone in the safety of his pocket.


	4. Scene 4 (Wildlife Rescue)

**Wildlife Rescue Centre**

“Harry, we’ve got a call! Let’s roll.” 

Harriet Turner whooped and sprang up from her chair. “Thank God!” she proclaimed. “I was going crazy just sitting around.” 

Her partner, Rajeev, grinned. “I know the feeling.” 

“Where we going?” Harry wanted to know. She tied her straw-blonde hair back with an elastic around her wrist and cracked her knuckles, a matching grin on her face. Desk work was mind-numbing. Out in the field was where she belonged. 

“Marramarra National Park,” Raj replied. “A wallaby’s been attacked.” 

“Attacked by what?” 

“That’s all we got.” They hurried down the stairs and burst out into the mid-morning sunshine. “A bushwalker called in to say she found it on the western side of the park. Apparently it’s been torn up pretty bad.” 

Harry frowned. “In Marramarra? What would tear up a wallaby?” 

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Raj raised his eyebrows at her as they climbed into the car. “Shall we go and find out?” 

It was a short drive to the park, and it was made shorter by their enthusiasm and the good music on the radio. Neither Raj nor Harry could sing well at all, but they’d been partners for long enough that it didn’t matter. Besides, you didn’t need to be musical to be good with animals, and they most certainly were. Working with animals had been Harry’s dream since she was a girl, and a volunteer position with wildlife rescue was as good as she could have hoped for. Her parents didn’t approve of the lack of paid work, but then again, they didn’t approve of much anything that Harry did. 

Winding down the window, Harry let the wind rush through her ponytail and put her parents out of her mind. She had a job to do.


	5. Scene 5 (Sydney)

**Pacific Highway, Sydney**

If Harry and Raj’s trip to Marramarra was eager and swift, Tash’s was the polar opposite. The traffic out of Sydney was appalling. The radio was switched off, leaving only the background noise of the city – rumbling engines and blaring horns – to accompany her on the drive. Tash herself was anxious to the point of nausea. She could feel her heart pounding in an all-too-familiar sensation. Her fingers trembled where they gripped the steering wheel, and her teeth were clamped firmly around her bottom lip. 

Though it had been years since she had visited the park, Tash knew exactly how to get to the clearing where Joseph was. It was almost shocking how familiar the bush paths were. The hum of summer crickets and the buzzing of mosquitoes seemed to press in on her ears, amplifying the sound of her beating heart. The sticky heat made every breath feel like an effort. 

As she approached the spot where her parents had disappeared, it became harder and harder for Tash to put one foot in front of the other. Sweat, prompted by more than just the heat, beaded on her skin and trickled down into her eyes. Her stomach was churning, her breath coming in gasps. Everything in her was screaming to turn back, run, forget about all of this. Someone else would deal with it. Someone else’s parents would disappear – 

“Tash!” 

Her brother saw her before she saw him, near-blind as she was with memories and fear. He gestured furiously at her through a break in the trees and she ran to him, almost sobbing, refusing to focus on anything in her peripheries. Only when he was gripping her hand did she force herself to follow his gaze and confront the image from her memory ten years ago. 

It was there. It was really there. The light/portal/apparition that had haunted her for ten years appeared almost exactly as she remembered it. She took an automatic step back at the sight. The same ethereal glow surrounded its shifting edges; the same soft hum wormed its way into her ears. For a full still minute she could only stare, drinking in the image of this impossible thing, her heart beating rapidly, her mind curiously blank. 

Then she looked at Joseph and they spoke at the same time. 

“We have to go in.”


	6. Scene 6 (West Marramarra)

**Marramarra – West Side**

The bushwalker who had phoned wildlife rescue was waiting for them at the western entrance to the park. 

“Are you Lindsay?” Raj called to her as they pulled up. 

“I am,” the woman replied. “Your patient is down that trail. About two k’s.” 

“Can you show us exactly where?” 

“Yeah, no worries.” Lindsay hopped into the car behind Raj and began to fill the silence with nervous chatter. “It looks pretty bad, to be honest. Something took a good chunk out of it. I couldn’t stay… It was making me sick. Take a left here; it’s not much further now. Spotted it in the bushes off the track – almost like it was trying to hide from what was after it. But whatever it was, it clearly won.” 

“We’ll take care of it,” Harry reassured her. 

When they pulled up and jumped out of the car, she saw it was almost too late. 

The poor wallaby had been torn almost to pieces. It was lying on one side; the other was marred by three deep gashes, bleeding its life’s blood out into the dirt. Its breath was coming in tiny, desperate gasps. 

“What the hell did it?” Raj whispered. 

Harry gave no answer; she didn’t have one. Intimately familiar with every national park close by, she knew that there were no predators in Marramarra that could have inflicted these wounds. “They’re too deep for a dingo’s scratches,” she murmured, crouching. “Too big to be eagle claws.” 

“Maybe it was kids?” Raj suggested weakly. “Went at it with a knife, just for fun?” 

Harry shook her head slowly. “I don’t think they’re knife wounds,” she said. “See, they’re jagged, irregular. They’re more like tooth marks than anything else. Definitely a predator of some kind. As to _what_ kind…” She stood up and looked around the bushland, fear settling in her gut. “I have no idea. But one thing’s for sure: it’s not friendly.” 

She heard the bushwalker swear under her breath. 

“Maybe you should get out of here,” Raj told the bushwalker kindly. “We’re going to have to report this. They might want to close the park until we know it’s safe.” 

“Yeah. Good idea. Thanks.” Lindsay took a final look at the wallaby and swallowed. “I hope you find whatever did it. Wouldn’t want it to happen to anything – or anyone – else.” 

“Don’t worry,” Raj said. “We will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's shown interest in the Project so far! The next chapter will be the longest yet, and introduces one of my favourite characters in the series. Stay tuned!


	7. Scene 7 (Marramarra - Centre)

**Marramarra – Centre**

Holding hands, the Hope siblings took a deep breath. 

“Stop!” 

The shout made them both jump. Joseph dropped Tash’s hand and whirled in the direction of the sound, while Tash gasped in fright and flinched instinctively away from the portal. By the time she had spun to face in the same direction, Joseph had already opened his mouth to reply. 

“Who are you?” 

The newcomer was a man a few years older than Tash. His eyes were dark and frightening under coal-black hair. He was dressed all in black too – Tash’s first, ridiculous thought was of a secret agent. Then she saw that he was carrying a knife in his gloved hand, and her second thought was that she was about to die. 

She watched, not daring to breathe, as he slowly lowered the knife. “My name is Jesse,” he said. His voice was low and deliberate. “You are in danger.” 

“Yeah, no shit!” Tash burst out, a hysterical tinge to her voice. She couldn’t take her gaze off the knife in his hand. 

He seemed to notice, looking down at the blade before a practiced motion had hidden it in a sheath on his belt beside a coil of rope. “Not from me,” he clarified. “From _that_.” He nodded towards the portal, standing silent witness to the events unfolding in the clearing. 

“We know,” Joseph burst out. “We know what it does.” 

Jesse raised an eyebrow. “I find that hard to believe,” he said, “else you would not be preparing to do something so unfathomably stupid. Or were you not just about to step through it?” 

Joseph scowled, folding his arms. Choosing to ignore that, he instead said, “You still haven’t told us who you are. What are you doing here?” 

“Protecting people, evidently.” Jesse inclined his head towards them, a sardonic smile on his lips. “You’re welcome, by the way. Trust me when I say it would be in your best interest to leave now, and quickly.” 

“No way,” Joseph retorted. “We’re not leaving until we’ve found our mum and dad.” 

Tash expected the stranger to laugh at the childish words, but instead – surprisingly – his mocking expression became alarmed. “They went through?” he demanded, taking two steps towards them. “When?” 

Joseph stared at the portal for a long time before he spoke. “Ten years ago,” he said finally. “And then it just… vanished.” 

“It closed?” Jesse regarded them both for a long moment before he dropped his gaze and sighed. “Listen,” he said, “I know you don’t want to hear this.” The gentleness of his voice was incongruous with his grim appearance and previous behaviour. “But they’re long gone.” 

“No!” Joseph yelled. “They’re right through there! We saw them – Tash, tell him!” 

Tash looked at him sadly, pity all over her face. Her brother had always refused to believe that their parents were gone. It was this, more than anything, that had driven the siblings apart in the months and years after their disappearance. Though it was the hardest thing she had ever done, and she was not sure if she would ever fully recover, Tash had been able to accept that their parents were never coming back. Joseph, younger and desperate and hopeful, had never forgiven her for it. 

“Joey –” she began. 

“No!” he yelled again. “They’re alive! I know it! I’ll prove it!” And before Tash could react, he had turned on his heel and thrown himself towards the shimmering light. 

It was Jesse who caught him. Moving faster than Tash would have thought possible, he had closed the distance between himself and Joseph before the younger man could take two steps. With a sudden thud the two men were in the dirt – Jesse had tackled Joseph unglamorously to the ground. 

“Get off me!” Joseph yelled, struggling hopelessly under Jesse’s weight. 

“Shut up!” Jesse hissed. “You’re not ten years old anymore! Stop acting like a child and just _think_. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is on the other side of the anomaly? Would you be so foolish as to throw yourself into danger without anything to protect yourself? Without any idea of what you’re about to face? Are you going to disappear on your sister the same way your parents disappeared on you?” 

Tash whispered, “Anomaly?” 

Jesse looked up at her, almost as though he had forgotten she was there. He held her gaze for a moment and then sighed. Rising to his feet, he offered a hand down to Joseph, which was ignored. 

“All right,” Jesse said. “You’ve lost someone. I know how that feels, trust me. Later, maybe, we can sit down and talk about it. And I will tell you what I know.” 

“Why not now?” Joseph demanded, brown eyes blazing in his dirt-covered face as he clambered to his feet. 

“Because,” Jesse said, his gaze moving to focus on the terrifying light, “the anomaly does more than just let people _in_. They let other things out. And right now there is something in this park that could kill every single one of us. I have to find it before it’s too late.”


	8. Scene 8 (West Marramarra)

**Marramarra – West Side**

“It hasn’t got a chance,” Raj said bleakly as he began to administer basic first aid to the wallaby. His hands were gentle, but every touch made the poor animal flinch. 

“Don’t say that,” Harry insisted, crouching next to him. “It might be all right with the proper care. We need to take it back to base.” 

Raj paused to glance at her. “One of us will have to stay and find out what did this.” 

Harry felt a nervous shiver run down her spine. There was something dangerous in this park, something that made hairs stand up on the back of her neck. The wallaby Raj was tending to was unlikely to survive even with emergency care, and it was only the first victim that had been found. There was no telling how many animals were in danger. 

Or how many humans. 

“You go,” Harry said, rising decisively from her crouch. “I’ll stay.” 

“You sure?” Raj asked. 

“Yeah.” Harry tried her best to smile. “I’m not afraid of the big bad wolf.” 

Raj was silent for a moment, but eventually nodded. “Okay,” he said. “All right. Help me load her in.” 

Moving as gently as they could, the two wildlife rescuers picked up the injured wallaby and gently laid it in the vehicle. When they were done, Raj and Harry turned to each other. 

“I think you should take the gun,” Raj said. 

Harry hesitated for a moment. In all her years volunteering with wildlife rescue, she could count the times she had used the tranquilising rifle on one hand. Although all teams on duty were technically equipped with one, it was rare to encounter a dangerous animal out in the field. 

“Harry,” Raj said seriously. 

She squared her shoulders. “Okay. Fine.” Reluctantly she took the rifle in her hands and slipped the spare darts into her belt. When that was done, she tried to smile up at her partner. “Happy now?” 

“Be careful,” was all that Raj would say. 

She punched him lightly in the shoulder. “Calm down! It’s a national park, not a war zone.” As she looked through the windows at the struggling wallaby, her smile faded. “Hope she pulls through.” 

“I’ll call you when I know. Keep me updated.” Raj hopped into the driver’s seat and held up a hand in farewell. Soon the car had vanished from sight, with only the faint rustling of leaves to mark its way.


	9. Scene 9 (Marramarra - Centre)

**Marramarra – Centre**

_There is something in this park that could kill every single one of us._

“What is it?” Tash whispered. 

Jesse shook his head slowly. “A predator like none you’ve ever seen,” he said. “Like none the world has ever seen.” 

“Where did it come from?” 

“A long time ago.” 

Tash frowned. “I said _where_.” 

“I know what you said.” Jesse looked between the two of them with an odd expression on his face, as though he was trying to find the right way to say something difficult. “Look,” he muttered eventually, “I don’t want you running around after me. It’s far too dangerous. I have to do this on my own. Can you find your way out of here without help?” 

“We’re not going anywhere,” Joseph said instantly. “We can help you. I know this park like the back of my hand.” He folded his arms. “And I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.” 

Before Jesse could respond, they heard a scream. 

“Come on!” Jesse shouted, turning and charging through the bush towards the sound. Tash looked at Joseph and felt his temptation as he stared longingly at the glowing light that Jesse had called the anomaly. 

“Joseph, come on,” Tash insisted. “We’re not safe here alone.” 

Joseph hesitated a second more, then the two Hope siblings ran after Jesse through the bush. 

By the time they got to the source of the scream, it was too late. 

“Oh my God,” Tash gasped, a shaking hand flying to her mouth. Joseph could only stare, his eyes wide in absolute horror. 

There was a woman lying on the dirt trail, her throat torn open, very obviously dead. 

“God damn it,” Jesse swore, scanning the area around them. The knife was in his hand again. “Shit! That thing’s fast.” 

“What do we do?” Joseph asked. 

“Find it before it can get anyone else.” Jesse crouched beside the body and brushed the woman’s eyelids closed, then began to scan the dirt around it. “I had its tracks before, but I lost them when I had to stop you throwing yourselves through the anomaly.” 

“Oh, so this is my fault?” 

It might have turned into a full-blown argument, but they were interrupted when Jesse stood up quickly, looking sharply over Tash’s shoulder. Instantly she turned, expecting to see a ferocious predator approaching at lightning speed – but instead it was a woman, panting slightly as she ran, dressed in what looked like ranger gear, a long rifle in her hands. 

“What’s going on here?” she asked. “Who are you? Is that – oh my God.” She had peered past Tash to see the body on the ground. Frozen, she could only stare. 

“Are you a park ranger?” Jesse asked. 

“What?” She still wasn’t looking at him. “N-no. Wildlife rescue.” 

“What’s your name?” Jesse asked gently. 

“Harry,” she whispered. “Harry Turner.” 

He nodded, sheathed the knife, approached her slowly. “Harry, I’m Jesse. This is Joseph and Tash. This woman has been killed by something very dangerous. I’m afraid you’re going to need to leave.” 

She stared at him. “What?” 

“It’s not safe in this park any longer.” Jesse glanced behind him. “Actually, take Tash and Joseph with you. It’s not safe for any of you.” 

“It’s my job to find out what did this,” Harry objected. “I’m not going anywhere.” 

“And neither are we,” Joseph agreed instantly, shooting Tash a glance that she returned with a sick expression. 

Frustrated, Jesse ran a hand through his hair. “Look,” he said. They could hear the forced calm of his voice. “None of you know what you’re getting into –” 

“Bullshit!” Joseph yelled. “What about our parents? We have to stay. You promised us explanations!” 

“Joey,” Tash began quietly. “Maybe he’s right.” 

He whirled around to glare at her. “Don’t call me that. I’m not twelve anymore. If you want to run home like a scared little girl, go ahead,” he said furiously. ”But I’m staying around to find out what happened to them. And if that means danger, so be it.” He tried to ignore the hurt in her face as he turned back to Jesse. He didn’t quite succeed. 

“Lindsay was the one called me out here,” Harry said, gesturing to the woman on the ground. “I have to find out what… did this to her.” 

Jesse looked at Tash. “And you?” 

She bit her lip, staring at the ground. She had been brave once. Before this very park had stolen her parents away, she had been every bit as adventurous as her brother. But things had changed. Now she was always scared. Sometimes she couldn’t get out of bed for it. Other times she felt as though she might die. The world was a bigger and more frightening place than she could ever have imagined, and the last thing she wanted to do was stay in this place a second longer. 

But her instinct to run away was smothered by a stronger instinct still. Ever since they had lost her parents, Tash had taken it upon herself to look after her brother. She knew Joseph resented her for the obsessive way she had always asked where he was and what he was doing, but it was important to her. If she couldn’t bring back her parents, at least she could protect him. 

She looked up at Jesse. “I’m staying too.” 

He sighed. “All right,” he said. He pointed at Harry’s weapon. “Is there ammunition in that gun?” 

“Tranqs only,” she replies. “We’re not authorised to carry anything live.” 

Jesse gave a rare smile. “Tranquillisers suit me just fine. Do you have experience in tracking?” 

“Some.” Slowly Harry’s fear began to lessen as she got into business mode. It was still there, but it was driving her to action now, rather than paralysing her. “Do you know what kind of animal it is?” 

The smile faded. “Suffice it to say that you’ve never seen one before.” 

Harry folded her arms. “That doesn’t help me. If we’re going to be working as a team, we need to be honest with each other.” 

“We’re not a…” Jesse began, but he broke off at her glare. “Fine. Look for clawed feet, moving swiftly over the ground. And keep your ears open. You might hear it before you see it.” 

_What the hell kind of a creature is that?_ Harry thought, but she kept her mouth shut this time.


	10. Scene 10 (Marramarra - Centre cont.)

It took ten minutes for Jesse to spot the tracks. 

“Here,” he said. “Look.” He pointed at a disturbed area of dirt. 

“And here,” Harry agreed, pointing a little further afield. 

Jesse nodded. “These are fresh. It can’t be far. Maybe it’s been wounded or something.” He looked at Harry, who was staring intently at the tracks. “You said you’d been called out here. Had it attacked something?” 

“Wallaby,” she replied. “Ripped up pretty bad. My partner took it to get emergency care.” 

“Wouldn’t exactly have been a fair fight, then. Maybe it’s just getting tired.” Without another word, Jesse stalked away, following clues invisible to Joseph and Tash. 

But though the tracks may have been incomprehensible to the Hope siblings, their path was not. 

“Uh-oh,” Joseph said. 

Harry turned around quickly and looked at him. “What?” 

“This trail,” Joseph explained. “It leads to the south entrance to the park. And then beyond.” 

“He’s right,” Jesse said. “If I don’t catch this thing soon, it could let itself loose in the wide world.” 

“But what is it?” Harry demanded. “What is ‘this thing’?” 

Jesse looked at her, then at Joseph and finally at Tash. “Fine,” he said at last. “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to ask any more questions until I’ve found it.” He waited until they nodded, and then said, “It’s a _Deinonychus_ , from the Cretaceous Era.” 

They should have laughed, Tash thought. They should have met each other’s gazes and burst into hysterics at the audacity of the dark-haired man. They should have patted him on the back, congratulated him on a good joke, went home whistling and gotten on with their merry lives. A _Deinonychus_. From the Cretaceous Era. Probably traipsing around the park even now with his friends Bigfoot and the Yeti. 

Except. 

Except that there was no trace of mirth on Jesse’s intent face. Except that somewhere nearby was a glowing light that had appeared out of nowhere to ruin Tash and Joseph’s lives. Except that an animal had been attacked and a woman who had called Harry for help had been killed. 

“Do you mean,” Harry whispered, “a _dinosaur_?” 

“Yes,” Jesse answered shortly, as Tash felt the breath desert her lungs. “Its name means ‘terrible claw’. It can grow to over three metres long and you have seen how lethal it is. Harry, if you see it, shoot first and ask questions later.” 

Wide-eyed, she simply nodded. 

“Now let’s go, and hope it hasn’t left the park.” 

This time they ran. Now familiar with the signs of the creature’s passage, Jesse and Harry had no trouble following the tracks, and Joseph and Tash had no trouble following them. Added to that, there was a sense of urgency that pervaded the small group. _You have seen how lethal it is._

So it was with despair that they reached the south entrance to the park and saw that the tracks continued out towards the houses beyond. 

“It’s loose,” Tash gasped. 

“Damn it!” Jesse yelled. He turned to the group. “Okay. Harry, I need you to get on the local wildlife hotline. If they receive any sightings of strange animals in this area, tell them you’ll take care of it. We don’t want anybody else involved if we can help it, understand?” 

“Why not?” Tash asked. “Shouldn’t we be informing everyone so that they can be prepared?” 

Jesse stared at her. “What,” he began quietly, “do you think people would do if they knew a deadly creature from millions of years ago was rampaging around?” 

A shiver ran down her spine. 

“There would be chaos,” Jesse said. “Mass panic. We need to keep this as contained as possible.” He looked at Harry. “Call that hotline, now!” 

As she jumped to it, Joseph spoke up, gesturing to himself and Tash. “What do you want us to do?” 

“Sit still and not try not to get in any trouble.” With nothing further, Jesse took off towards the houses at a run. 

“Arsehole,” Joseph commented mildly, pulling out his mobile. 

Tash stared at him. “What are you doing?” 

He grinned at her, knowing how she would react. “Phoning a friend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *emerges reluctantly from her Hamilton obsession to post an update* 
> 
> Almost halfway through the first episode! Thank you so much to anyone who has read, reviewed, or recommended!


	11. Scene 11 (Cam's Apartment)

**Cameron Jones' Apartment**

In a dingy apartment that smelled of pizza, a young man was sprawled over several bean bags in front of the TV, a can of Pepsi in each hand, a laptop balanced on his knees. If the curtains had been open, the bright sunshine would have revealed that an enormous, plain wooden desk dominated the room. On the desk was not one but three computer monitors, each displaying a different view of an online game. The surface of the desk itself was covered in doodles and scratches. A bookshelf stood on one side of the desk, bare but for a few lonely CD cases, with a bar fridge humming on the other. The bed in the corner looked like it hadn’t been made in several years. 

The stuffy room’s occupant, Cameron, was currently engrossed in the television, which was actually connected to another computer hidden behind it. A video game championship match was being streamed, and Cam was dividing his time fairly equally between chugging Pepsi and abusing the players. 

“Come on, what are you doing?” he yelled at the screen. “You're letting them run straight over you! Were you born in a barn with no wifi? You’re an embarrassment to the team. I hope they kick you.” He paused to drain the can in his left hand and lob it across the room in the direction of the bin, which it missed. 

He was considering getting up to get a replacement when a jingle from his right pocket interrupted him. Pulling the phone out, he interrupted the ringtone (a particularly stirring piece from the _Everquest_ soundtrack) to answer the call. 

“Joe, dude, you’re interrupting the World Championships! This better be good!” 

_“Cam, this is serious.”_ Joseph, Cam’s ex-roommate and current best friend, was apparently in no mood for joking. _“I need you to do something for me. Right now.”_

“What’s up?” he asked, reluctantly muting the TV. 

_“Are you on the internet?”_

“Uh, am I breathing? I’ve got like ten tabs open following the Worlds commentary. The memes are hilarious.” 

_“Okay, whatever. Listen, Cam, I need you to do a search on Marramarra National Park. Is there anything weird that’s popped up in that area?”_

“Marramarra, got it.” The fingers of one hand skittered across the laptop keyboard as he took a gulp of Pepsi from the other. “Uh… Apparently there was a bushfire warning a couple days ago?” 

_“No,”_ Joseph said. _“More recent. We’re talking minutes.”_

A dozen social media and news sites popped up and shrank on the screen as Cam typed. “I’m not seeing much, Joe. Oh, wait – jokes, no.” 

_“What is it?”_

Cam enlarged the image and grinned. “Someone who lives near the park tweeted this ’shopped photo of, like, some dinosaur-thing tearing up their front yard. It’s pretty good quality. Almost looked real for a second.” 

_“Where is it? Is there a house number?”_

Cam leaned forward to squint. “Yeah. It’s across the road from number 14.” 

_“And it was posted recently?”_

“Two minutes ago,” Cam said. “And it’s already got like a hundred retweets. Ugh, there’ll be a Buzzfeed article about it any second. People these days will turn anything into clickbait.” 

_“Cam, you’re a lifesaver! One more thing. Can you get that image off the net somehow? Report it for something?”_

He frowned. “Why? I mean, it’s annoyingly popular, but it’s not hurting anyone.” 

_“Trust me, Cam. If this goes viral, it will.”_

Cam grinned, taking another swig of Pepsi. “Nuh-uh, dude. You gotta give me more than that. Hacking social media is a lot more difficult than most people make it sound. I need a real reason.” He didn’t really – he would have done it just to prove he could – but Joe was sounding pretty wound up. A bit of gentle teasing wouldn’t go astray. 

He heard a sigh from the other end of the line. _“The dinosaur is real, Cam.”_

Now _that_ was something. _“Like a robot?”_

“Like a living breathing killing thing! And I need it offline before the conspiracy freaks come looking for it.” 

Cam shook his head slowly. The boy had cracked. This was what happened when you picked a boring university course like Environmental Management over something actually interesting and fun. Still, there was no harm in humouring him a little bit. He cracked his knuckles. _“All right, dude. It’ll be gone in five. Say hi to T. Rex for me.”_

“Thanks, Cam.” 

_“The things I do for you, man.”_ Cam grinned, his fingers flashing across the keyboard almost faster than the eye could see. Within minutes, the picture had vanished from the internet. 

Cam snapped the laptop shut with satisfaction. His job done, he unmuted the television and settled back into the bean bag – but the current match looked like it was going to be a steamroller, and that just wasn’t interesting at all. Besides, he couldn’t quite get Joe’s voice out of his mind. The boy was clearly crazy, but he’d sounded legitimately scared. 

Cam glanced up towards the window. He got up and drew the curtain back. He checked Google Maps. He grabbed his keys. 

What kind of a best friend didn’t go out to help a mate in trouble?


	12. Scene 12 (Past the South Exit)

**Past the South Exit**

Joseph and Harry cut their calls simultaneously. 

“Number 14,” Joseph said. “Let’s roll.” 

“You told him?” Tash yelped accusingly. 

“What was I supposed to do?” As the group jogged down the road, Joseph could practically feel the disapproval radiating off his sister. “If I hadn’t asked him to take the photo down, that would be as bad as telling a thousand people!” 

“Out of all the people in the world, Joseph,” Tash groaned, “why did it have to be Cam?” 

“Do you know anyone else who’s as good with computers as he is?” Joseph demanded. “How else was I supposed to track this bloody thing? At least I actually gave it a bit of thought instead of just running off!” 

“Who is Cam?” Harry asked. 

“My best mate,” Joseph said. 

“They met at uni, but then Cam dropped out to play video games,” Tash said disparagingly. 

“ _Study game design,_ ” Joseph corrected irritably. “And he’s really good at it too. He’s working on this new RPG about –” 

“He’s a dropout and a slob,” Tash said flatly. 

“Just because _you’ve_ already graduated and –” 

“Guys, enough!” Harry hissed, slowing down. They had reached the bend before number 14. There was no sign of either Jesse or the dinosaur. Wordlessly the Hope siblings dropped back to allow Harry – and the gun – to go first. 

They rounded the corner with bated breath. 

The house across from number 14 looked like a crime scene. Garden accessories had been overturned and scattered across the lawn. Flowers had been torn from their beds. The screen door had been smashed through. 

“Oh, God,” Tash whispered. 

Cautiously, the three of them approached the house. Tash’s hands were shaking. Joseph’s gaze was darting all around. Harry had taken the safety off. 

There was movement in the shadows at the front door. Tash gasped. Harry raised the gun. 

“It’s me,” Jesse called, holding up his hands and striding quickly onto the verandah. “The house is clear. I think it’s gone.” His face was dark. “It killed again before it left.” 

“God,” Harry whispered. 

“It can’t be far,” Joseph said. “It was here only minutes ago.” 

Jesse frowned. “How do you know?” 

Before anyone could reply, it had sprung at them. 

It came from the backyard – it had come up the side path while Jesse had been inside. Now it charged towards him, cutting him off from the rest of the group. Moving purely on reflex, Jesse hurled himself off the verandah into the mangled flowerbeds by the front stairs, missing the _Deinonychus_ ’ charge by inches. He rolled and jumped to his feet, facing the creature with only the knife in his hand. 

Harry fired the gun, but the creature had moved at the same time, and the shot went wild. She swore and quickly began to dismantle the rifle to reload it with one of the spare darts she kept on her belt. At the same time, Jesse had his knife up and had dived away from the dinosaur’s movement. It missed him by the breadth of a hair. 

Lost for any other options, Joseph threw a rock. 

It sailed over the creature’s head, but hit the brick wall behind it, catching the raptor’s attention. Jesse saw his chance and retreated away, towards the safety of Harry and the newly loaded gun. “Shoot it,” Jesse said calmly, stepping well out of the way so she had a clear shot. 

Just as her finger twitched towards the trigger, a new noise shrieked into the scene: a car, zooming down the road towards them, tyres screeching. Startled, they all looked up, and the _Deinonychus_ saw its chance. It sprung at Jesse, tackling him to the ground. His knife was knocked out of his hand, and the _Deinonychus_ ’ sharp claws dug into his left shoulder. Jesse howled in pain. 

_BEEEEEEP!_

The noise of the car horn was enough to startle the dinosaur into flight. It charged back the way it had come, heading for the national park. 

Cam finally let his hand off the horn and stared, open-mouth, through the windscreen. 

“Holy shit,” was all he could say.


	13. Scene 13 (Past the South Exit cont.)

“We have to go after it,” Jesse said through clenched teeth. 

He was sitting on an overturned rock in the yard, flinching as Tash held a wet cloth to the wound in his shoulder. “It has to be captured,” he went on, “and sent back through the anomaly.” 

“Captured?” Joseph demanded. “It’s killed two people – almost three. It has to be destroyed!” 

“No!” Abruptly, Jesse tore the cloth out of Tash’s grip and stood up. As he began to button his shirt, Tash saw that he wore a leather cord around his neck with what looked like a shark tooth hanging from it. “No lethal force,” Jesse insisted. “Tranquillisers only.” 

Harry frowned, puzzled. “Jesse, it’s the law,” she said gently. “Even in wildlife rescue, we know that dangerous animals have to be put down.” 

“Not this one.” Jesse pulled the cloth away from his shoulder, inspected the wound, and tossed it aside. “If you’re not going to help, give me your gun.” 

“Of course I’m going to help,” she retorted. “But I think we should call the police.” 

“ _No._ ” The ferocity of Jesse’s tone actually made her take a step back. “Listen. _None of you understand what is going on here._ This creature must be captured and returned home.” 

“Home?” Cam burst out. “You mean some kind of lab, right? This thing is an experiment, surely?” 

If Jesse’s stare had unnerved Harry before, it was nothing compared to the withering glare he gave Cam. “Boy, thanks to you, that ‘experiment’ nearly ripped my throat out,” he growled. The younger man flinched and opened his mouth to stammer an apology, but Jesse held up a single finger and glared him into silence. “Don’t even try,” he said flatly. “Get in your car, and go home.” 

“That’s not fair,” Joseph protested. “Without Cam we wouldn’t have found this thing in the first place. He tracked it on the internet! And if he hadn’t beeped the horn it wouldn’t have run away! He’s useful. You should let him stay.” 

Sensing that Jesse was a second away from exploding, Tash quickly stepped forward and put a hand on his arm. “Hey,” she said calmingly. “Come on. Let’s not waste time bickering. We have a job to do.” 

It almost worked. Tash’s ‘teacher voice’ could soothe even the rowdiest of children – but it seemed it wasn’t quite powerful enough to work on a grown man as riled up as Jesse. “We?” he yelled. “There is no _we_ here! This is my job! I have to do it alone! Give me your gun –” and he reached for Harry’s rifle. 

She held it away and stared at him. “You’re being ridiculous,” she said flatly. “You can’t take on a dinosaur alone. I said I’ll come with you. Now let’s do it.” 

In the end, he was too tired to argue with any of them.


	14. Scene 14 (South Marramarra)

The five of them entered Marramarra with identical looks of determination. 

“My guess is it’s headed back towards the anomaly,” Jesse said. Seeing the bafflement on Harry and Cam’s faces, he added briefly, “Where it came from.” 

“Makes sense,” Harry said slowly. “It was scared. It’ll be looking for familiar ground.” 

“What’s an anomaly?” Cam wanted to know, and was ignored. 

They walked on in silence. Jesse walked at the front of the group, leading the way. Behind him was Tash, anxious eyes scanning their surrounds constantly, with Joseph and Cam next, chastised into silence. Harry brought up the rear. 

Silence. Even the mosquitoes had ceased their monotone buzzing. There was no breeze to stir the sweat on her skin, or the trees that stood sentinel as they passed. The only sounds in Tash’s ears were Harry’s heavy breathing and the crunch of leaves under their feet. 

And then – 

“THERE!” 

Tash’s heart shot into his throat as she turned to face the thicket of trees Jesse was pointing at. The moment she caught sight of the _Deinonychus_ it sprang, closing the five-metre gap between them with ease. She opened her mouth to scream, certain it would get to her before she could make a sound – 

_THUMP._

The noise it made when it hit the ground was incredible. Shaking like a leaf in the wind, Tash slowly opened her eyes and turned to stare at the millions-year-old creature lying in the bush a mere few steps away. Up close, she could see every feather that covered its powerful body, the enormous claw that had given it its name. There was blood on it. 

“How long will it be out?” Jesse asked. 

Harry shrugged. “Hard to say. The dose is strong, but that’s a bloody huge animal, and I have no idea about its metabolism. Wouldn’t be much more than half an hour, tops.” 

“That’s plenty of time.” As Jesse unwound the rope from his belt and began to bind the creature’s legs and jaws together, Tash, still trembling, glanced over to look at Joseph. His hungry expression was fixed on the glowing light that hovered in the sky. It made her heart hurt to look at his face. 

“What is that?” Cam asked, his gaze following Joseph’s. 

“Dangerous,” Jesse said shortly. “Don’t touch it, or even get too near it – it’s got its own magnetic field and will steal your car keys out of your pocket if you get too close.” 

Harry looked equally perplexed. Tash could almost feel Joseph’s longing. Their parents could be just beyond that light. If they just stepped through it – 

“Joseph.” It was Jesse who spoke. Tash’s brother looked up in surprise, like breaking out of a daze. He’d taken three steps towards the anomaly without even realising. “I know,” Jesse said quietly. “You want to look for them. You think they’re just beyond the light.” 

“But they _are_ ,” Joseph whispered helplessly. 

Jesse shook his head. “Joseph, it’s not possible for people to survive on the other side –” 

“How do you know?!” Joseph demanded, rounding on him. “You don’t know a thing about my family! Our parents are resourceful! They know the land! They can survive anything! Prove it!” 

Jesse stared at him for a long moment. Then, shocking everyone, he nodded his head.


	15. Scene 15 (Marramarra - Centre)

“This is ridiculous,” Tash said, pacing nervously up and down the clearing. “Earth _one hundred million years ago?_ There could be a hundred more of these creatures on the other side! Thousands!” 

“We won’t linger,” Jesse said firmly, checking the enormous creature’s pulse and making some final adjustments to the rope bindings. “We go in, we cut it loose, we get out.” 

“I still think you should let me come with you,” Harry objected. “I’m the one with the gun. It makes sense.” 

Jesse shook his head, the argument old already. “I shouldn’t even be taking one of you through with me,” he said, “let alone four. The rest of you _must_ stay here. There’s always the chance that another creature has escaped through. Harry, I need you here in case that has happened.” 

Tash, whose heart rate still hadn’t quite returned to normal, scanned the clearing again, for the thousandth time. 

“It will be like nothing you’ve ever seen,” Jesse was saying to Joseph. Tash’s brother had his arms folded and was wearing a serious expression, listening attentively to Jesse’s words. “You must do exactly as I tell you. You don’t run off. You don’t yell out. If I say go back, you go back. If you hesitate, I will make you. Forcefully.” 

Joseph’s eyes slid towards the knife. He grimaced, but nodded. 

“Joey, wait.” Tash had been wrestling with this all throughout the conversation, but she couldn’t ignore the nauseating feeling in her gut any longer. She stumbled forward and grabbed her brother’s arm. “Please. Don’t do this. It isn’t safe.” 

He pulled his arm gently out of her grasp. “I have to, Tash.” 

“No, you don’t!” she insisted. “You have to stay here. Please. Don’t do this.” She bit her lip. “If something happens to you…” 

“Then what?” Joseph demanded. “Mum and Dad aren’t around to get you in trouble for not looking out for me, Tash. I know you want to protect me, but I’m not twelve years old anymore. I have to do this.” 

She stared at him as the tears welled in her eyes. Her brave, stubborn, sweet brother, even ten years later, was refusing to give up on the hope that their parents were still somehow, miraculously, alive. She knew then that she couldn’t stop him from doing this. 

So instead she launched herself at him in a hug, holding him like she would never let go. “You have to come back,” she whispered in his ear as he awkwardly patted her on the shoulder. “Promise me you’ll come back.” 

He untangled himself, not ungently. “I promise, Tash.” 

She nodded, and then looked at Jesse. “And you,” she said in a low voice, “if you let anything happen to him, I’ll make you wish that dinosaur had ripped open your throat.” 

He looked at her with an expression she couldn’t name. “All right,” he said eventually. 

She dropped her gaze, feeling the pounding of her heart. 

“Let’s go,” Jesse declared. “This won’t stay open forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sibling feelssssss. 
> 
> Getting to the end of this episode, guys! Let me know what you think!


	16. Scene 16 (Cretaceous Era)

Stepping through the anomaly was like stepping into a dream. As Joseph’s vision cleared and he looked at the world around him, he could only gape. “Holy shit,” he gasped. “Holy. Shit.” 

It was their world, and yet it was not their world. The very air they breathed was different, its chemical makeup altered by the incomprehensible span of years between their two ages. They had emerged onto a wide dirt plain scattered with ancient, alien trees. Joseph, a wilderness junkie, felt his pulse quicken at the sight of the unfamiliar foliage. He could only wonder what kind of creatures nibbled at them on their way across the wide dirt plains. His eyes were wide as saucepans, he knew, as he drank in the sight with a greedy gaze. Above, there were ancient creatures soaring across a young sky. 

“Come on,” Jesse grunted, hefting the dinosaur’s weight. Together he and Joseph dragged it away from the anomaly and dumped it onto the dirt. The _one-hundred-million-year-old dirt_ , Joseph thought in total awe. He was glad that Jesse’s knife could easily cut through the rope, because once he had finished dragging the dinosaur he was far too busy looking around to help set the _Deinonychus_ free, or indeed to do anything else but stare. 

The Cretaceous Era was – there was no other word for it – _awesome_. 

But slowly his awe faded, to be replaced with fear. As beautiful as it was, the Cretaceous had an aura that was distinctly threatening. He was an alien here; he did not belong. Their earliest ancestors were not due to arrive for millions of years. The foreign landscapes were home to predators whose names he didn’t even know. There was no water in sight. Even the air was different. 

“We’re done. Let’s go,” Jesse said, standing up and brushing the dirt off his pants. 

Joseph hesitated. As threatening as the environment was, it supported life, didn’t it? There was greenery around him, animals, insects. Somewhere out there would be water. Somewhere out there his parents could be waiting. They would be ten years older, but no less overjoyed to see him. 

He forgot Jesse’s warning, and drew a breath to call their names. 

Instantly a hand was over his mouth. “Don’t,” Jesse said. Surprisingly, his voice was sympathetic rather than angry. “Trust me, I understand. But if they were close enough to hear you, they’d be close enough to see that the anomaly had reopened, and they would be here by now.” 

Joseph shook his head. The words made sense; they just weren’t what he wanted to hear. 

“Come on,” Jesse said quietly. “I know you miss them, but you have people back home who need you.” He took his hand away from Joseph’s mouth and turned back towards the glowing light. 

Joseph hesitated a second more, and then followed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaand cue the jesse/joseph shippers, amirite?


	17. Scene 17 (Marramarra - Centre)

“Oh, thank God,” Tash gasped, throwing herself at Joseph the moment he reappeared. 

He laughed a bit, then gently pushed her away. “All right, Tash, okay, enough!” he protested. “I’m all right. I’m not dead. But I will be in a minute if you keep strangling me.” 

“How was it?” Cam asked eagerly. “What’d you see?” 

Joseph shook his head slowly. “It was unbelievable.” 

“And dangerous,” Jesse reminded them sharply. “The sooner this thing closes, the better.” 

They all turned to look at the anomaly. Cam’s eyes were wide, Joseph’s thoughtful, Tash’s nervous. It was Harry who asked the obvious question. “So what do we do now?” 

“We wait for it to close,” Jesse replied. 

“How long will that take?” 

“It varies,” he said quietly. “Longest I’ve ever seen it open was about 40 hours.” 

“So this has happened before?” Cam asked. His eyes were wide. “Holy shit. So there’s like been this time portal in a national park for _years_ and no-one ever knew about it? This is so exciting! There could be dinosaurs running around us right now!” 

“Dinosaurs that kill people, Cameron,” Tash snapped. Her adrenaline had spiked when Joseph had stepped through the anomaly, and her heart rate still hadn’t quite returned to normal. It shortened her temper, as it always did. “This isn’t one of your video games. This is real life. _Real people_ have died. How is that exciting to you?” 

“Tash,” Joseph began, “he didn’t mean it like –” 

“She’s right,” Jesse said firmly. “I don’t want to see any of you hanging around here again, hoping you can pop through to the Cretaceous Era just for a change of scene, or so you can tell all your friends you’ve travelled through time. The anomaly is more dangerous than anything else in this world. Meddling with it could have catastrophic consequences.” 

“Like what?” Joseph demanded. 

Jesse blinked in surprise, but before he could answer, there was a gentle _whoosh_ of air and the glowing light vanished. 

Tash was suddenly overwhelmed by the sheer immensity of everything that had happened. Two people dead. A dinosaur on the rampage. Her brother on the other side of time. And now the portal – the anomaly – had disappeared, leaving no evidence that it had ever been in the clearing. The last time that had happened, it had meant the end of two people she loved. She sat down abruptly on the grass, holding her hands over her face. She couldn’t bear the sight of the clearing any longer. 

It was Joseph who crouched beside her. For a moment he hesitated, then he gently put an arm around her shoulders. “I know, Tash,” he said quietly, drawing her in for a hug. “I know.”


	18. Scene 18 (Marramarra - Centre cont.)

The silence was broken by the sound of Harry’s mobile phone. 

“It’s Raj,” she said, glancing at the display. “My partner. He’ll want to know what’s going on.” She looked up at Jesse, eyes wide. “What do I tell him?” 

“Dogs,” Jesse said instantly. “There’s a pit bull breeding farm on a property south of here, and a few of them escaped and attacked the wallaby. You’ve rounded them up, traced them to their source, and the police will issue an official warning. There shouldn’t be any further problems.” 

Harry stared at him. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” 

He shrugged. As Harry took the call and began to relay what Jesse had said, Tash, whose eyes were red-rimmed, got to her feet and pulled Jesse aside. 

“A dead wallaby is one thing,” she whispered. “What are you going to do about the bushwalker and the person in the house?” 

Jesse’s mouth tightened. He wasn’t looking at her. “I have a friend,” he said. “She’ll take care of it for me.” 

“A cover-up?” Tash demanded. “These people have families, Jesse! They deserve to know the truth! This park isn’t safe for anybody!” She could feel Joseph and Cam watching them. 

“Tash, think about it,” Jesse said firmly, meeting her gaze. “If I turned up at your door and told you your wife had been murdered by a dinosaur from a hundred million years ago, would you believe me?” 

She hesitated. “But –” 

“But nothing.” Jesse turned away from her. “I’ve tried it before. Trust me, this is the better way.” 

She wouldn’t let it go, though. This whole situation was unbelievable, but surely there were right and wrong ways of dealing with the unbelievable. “So that’s it then?” she demanded. “You’re just going to sweep this under the rug, send us home, and go back to dealing with it all by yourself?” 

“Sounds about right,” Jesse replied icily. 

“It’s ridiculous!” Tash shot back. 

“She’s right.” Joseph stepped towards them. “Let us help. I know this park better than anyone. I’ve studied wildlife and environments for years. And what if there’s more than one of these things?” 

“I can find a way to track them,” Cam said eagerly. “Something like this is bound to generate a tonne of internet chatter. I can keep an eye out for weird sightings.” 

Harry was nodding as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. “You’ll need me too,” she said. “I know everything about modern animals. How different can prehistoric ones be?” 

Jesse rubbed his temples. “I can’t ask any of you to do this,” he said. “You have no idea… You’d be risking your lives…” 

“Ask or not, we’re doing it,” Joseph said flatly. “End of story.” 

Jesse looked at Tash, the only one who hadn’t pledged. She did her best to smile bravely at him and gestured towards Joseph. “Where he goes, I go.” 

It was that, more than anything, that settled it for Jesse. “All right,” he said. “Give me your numbers. If I need any of you, I’ll call you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *froths a little bit at the mouth* 
> 
> **_ttttteeeeeeeaaaammmmmsssssss_ **


	19. Scene 19 (Marramarra - Centre cont.)

Once he had everyone’s details stored in his phone, Jesse excused himself to make another call while the rest of them exchanged numbers and proper, not-mid-dino-chase introductions. 

Emma answered his call on the first ring. _“Hello?”_

“It’s me.” Jesse hesitated. Though he had made this type of call more than once, it never got easier. He kicked at a tuft of grass hiding amongst the roots of a tree and felt his heart sink at the prospect of telling her. “Emma,” he began, “I hate to do this, but…” 

_“It happened again?”_

“Two deaths.” He heard Emma’s quiet sigh of despair and hated himself. “God, Emma, I’m sorry. I hate asking this of you.” 

He could picture her gentle one-shouldered shrug. _“It’s not your fault, Jesse,”_ she said quietly. _“I’d rather it be me than somebody else. Can I have the details?”_

He gave a brief, efficient description of the two victims and their locations. 

_“Witnesses?”_ Emma asked. 

Again Jesse hesitated. “Four,” he said. “But… you don’t need to do anything about them.” 

“What do you mean?” 

A brief smile flitted over Jesse’s face as he imagined her reaction to his next words. “They want to stick around. I’ve decided to let them.” 

He could sense her surprise over the phone. _“Are you sure that’s wise?”_ she asked. _“It will be dangerous. And the more people who know about this…”_

“I know, I know,” Jesse said. He leaned against the trunk of a tree, glancing up through the branches at the group huddled in the clearing. “Trust me, Emma. I’ve thought it through. And… I think they’ll be useful.” 

She was silent for a few moments. _“I never thought I’d see the day,”_ she said eventually. _“But I’m glad, Jess. You know I don’t like you doing this by yourself. And… I don't know how long I can keep covering it up, either.”_

“I know.” 

_“So when do I get to meet them?”_

Jesse grimaced. “If we’re lucky? Never. But I doubt this is the last time. It’ll be back soon enough.”


	20. Scene 20 (Marramarra - Centre cont.)

“I should get back to work,” Harry said. “I’ll have to make a report about this. I guess I’ll, um, just make something up about the dogs.” 

“Make sure you include a vivid description of their claws and teeth,” Cam said with a grin. “And their feathers. And their beady eyes.” 

Tash glared at him. Cam blushed. 

“I guess I’ll see you guys later,” Harry said. “It was, uh, nice to meet you all… I s’pose.” 

“Bye, Harry!” Cam chirped. 

“See you,” Tash offered. 

Harry waved, a little awkwardly, and left the clearing. 

“You guys wanna come back to my house and play video games?” Cam asked. 

Joseph grinned. “Now that’s the best idea anyone’s had all day.” 

“I’ll pass,” Tash said, staring into the trees through which Jesse had disappeared. In addition to having a question for Jesse, the sole occasion on which she had visited Cam’s apartment had made her more than a little nauseous. “I want to ask him something,” she explained. “You go, Joey. I’ll… see you later.” 

“Sure.” Joseph was as curious as Tash about everything that had just happened, but his brief sojourn in the Cretaceous Era had left him feeling very overwhelmed and slightly light-headed. A bit of gaming would do him some good – pull him back to the real world a bit. “See you.” 

It felt strange to walk away from Tash with anything other than a fight. How many years had it been since they’d had a conversation that hadn’t ended in raised voices and words they’d later regret? He felt slightly shocked at how far apart they had become. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever realised it before. 

A minute after the boys had left, Jesse returned to the clearing. He seemed surprised to see Tash still standing there. “What happened to ‘wherever he goes, I go’?” 

Tash wrinkled her nose. “That statement does not extend to grubby nerds’ bedrooms.” 

Jesse chuckled. Speaking to Emma, even about such dark matters as this, always improved his mood. That mood promptly turned awkward as he regarded Tash, who was chewing her lip as she fiddled with a leaf on a low-hanging branch. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Did you, uh, want something?” 

She snapped off the leaf and met his gaze. “I have a question.” 

Jesse grimaced. “Yeah, I bet you do,” he said slowly. “‘Where did it come from?’ ‘Why is this happening?’ I’m afraid I can’t really answer any of that.” 

“That’s not what I want to know,” Tash said. There was a long pause as she thought over her words, tearing the leaf absentmindedly in her fingers. Finally she asked, “What did you mean when you talked about ‘catastrophic consequences’?” 

She watched the emotions take over his face. Surprise first, then nervousness, and then, for a second’s fraction, deep sorrow. He blinked and it was gone, replaced by the hard eyes she had come to recognise as his determined face. 

“Let’s go somewhere and talk,” he said.


	21. Scene 21 (Jesse's House)

**Jesse’s House**

In the end they wound up at his house; it was walking distance from the park, though on the opposite side to where the _Deinonychus_ had rampaged. As Jesse let them in, Tash found herself wondering about the chicken and egg. Had Jesse first discovered the anomaly because he lived here? Or did he live here because of the anomaly? 

“Sorry about the mess,” Jesse said quietly as he led her into the living room. It was almost so unnecessary as to be a joke; the house couldn’t possibly be messy, because there was hardly anything in it. There were no pictures on the walls, no friendly magazines stacked on the coffee table, no bookshelves cluttered with novels and knick-knacks. There wasn’t even an armchair, so Jesse had to drag over a chair from the kitchen table and sit awkwardly across from Tash on the small couch. 

“Nice place,” she said to fill the silence. 

“It was my parents’,” he answered, with no particular inflection. 

She was quiet then, uncertain of what to say, waiting for him to gather his thoughts. Eventually he spoke. The question surprised her. 

“Would you like a cup of tea?” 

“Oh.” Tash was taken aback. She thought it over for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, actually. Tea would be nice.” 

He stood up again and busied himself in the kitchen. Tash took the time to look around the living room and was struck again by its starkness. Where were the family photos? Where was the _art_? The only thing in the room that could possibly have been used for decoration rather than function was the small wooden box that sat on the mantelpiece above the fireplace. Tash was suddenly flooded with memories of her parents’ house – the bright carpets that sang with colour and warmth, the ever-present flowers, the messy paintings they had done as children taking pride of place on every wall. Jesse’s house was more than cold by comparison – it was empty. Lonely. 

Tea made, Jesse returned to the couch and placed the mug in front of her. She muttered a thank you and took a drink. They were silent for a few more moments, Tash appreciating the warmth and normalcy of the tea after the frankly incomprehensible day she had just had. 

The silence was broken by another strange question from Jesse. “Do you know much about the theories surrounding time travel, Tash?” 

She shook her head, slightly bemused. “Um, I think Cam might be able to help you more with that one. He’s into sci-fi and stuff.” 

Jesse shrugged a single shoulder, a gesture he had unconsciously picked up from Emma long ago. “It doesn’t matter. All the theories are just that – theories. No-one really knows what would happen if someone travelled back in time. Even I don’t really know.” 

He took a slow drink, then tried another tack. “Have you heard of the butterfly effect?” 

She knew that one. “Yeah. Wing flaps, hurricane results.” 

“Right. The butterfly effect suggests that a single, tiny, seemingly random action – like the flap of a butterfly’s wing – can go on to influence events in such a way that something enormous results – a hurricane, for example.” 

Tash nodded, taking a sip of tea. 

“This is kind of related to something called the grandfather paradox,” Jesse continued. “The grandfather paradox says that time travel is impossible, because if you were to go back in time and kill your grandfather, your mother or father would have never been born, meaning _you_ would never be born, meaning you could never have travelled back in time in the first place.” Jesse took a breath. “Now, this is related to the butterfly effect because the simplest action could have devastating results. You wouldn’t even have to kill your grandfather – you could just make him miss a train, for example, but it just so happened to be the train that he was supposed to meet his future wife on. It’s like in – you have seen Back to the Future?” 

She grimaced. “Sorry. I’m _really_ not a sci-fi person.” 

Jesse sighed, setting down his tea. “It’s not your fault. I’m not explaining this very well. Maybe I should just tell it like it happened.” He nodded once, as if trying to convince himself. “Yeah. All right.” 

Drawing his wallet from his pocket, Jesse took out a photo and handed it to Tash. It looked like an old, faded Polaroid picture. A young girl – maybe kindergarten-aged – was grinning down at the camera from halfway up a tree. The black hair was impossibly curly, the pale face splashed with freckles. Yet even tiny and faded, there was no mistaking the resemblance. 

“Your sister?” Tash asked. 

He nodded. “Isabelle.” 

Tash stared silently at the photo for a few more moments before handing it back. “What happened?” she whispered. 

“We went to play in the park,” Jesse said, gesturing out the window towards Marramarra. “We practically lived in it as kids. It was two days after her sixth birthday and she was trying out her new camera. She asked me to take a photo of her in the tree. After I took it, I was climbing up to show her when the anomaly opened. Right underneath us. 

“I was so scared, I dropped the camera. The anomaly swallowed it right up. It was Isabelle’s present, and I didn’t want to be the one who lost it. So I put the photo in my pocket and scrambled down the tree to get it back.” 

“She followed you?” Tash guessed. 

He shook his head. “No. Worse. She stayed behind.” 

He paused for a moment. “When I went through the anomaly I saw that a little creature was trying to steal the camera. Now I think it was a baby raptor, but at the time I had no idea what it was. I just knew that I had to get the camera back. So I… I picked up a rock and threw it. I didn’t mean to kill it – I just wanted to scare it away. But it hit the raptor right in the face. And it didn’t get scared. It just got angry.

“It charged at me and jumped up, bit me on the leg. One of its teeth actually came out. I must have knocked it loose with the rock. So I panicked and kicked it as hard as I could. I must have been stronger than I thought, because that was enough to – to kill it.” 

“How old were you?” Tash asked. 

“I was thirteen years old.” 

Jesse’s eyes were very far away as he spoke. “After that I just wanted to get out of there. I didn’t even go and grab the camera. I took the raptor’s tooth, though.” He brought the leather cord out from underneath his collar to show her the sharp, yellowed tooth hanging from it. “I can’t really remember why. I think I wanted proof that this… this _impossible_ thing had happened. Then I ran back. I couldn’t have been away for more than three minutes. But when I got back… Isabelle was gone.” 

There was a sick feeling in Tash’s stomach. “Gone?” 

Jesse’s grip tightened on the tooth. “I thought maybe she’d panicked and run home, but when I got back she… she wasn’t there.” His throat closed up for a moment and when he spoke again it was in a strangled voice. “Neither were the photos of her. None of her toys in the living room. When I ran upstairs, her bedroom wasn’t her bedroom. I asked my parents, and they said… they said…” 

His voice stuck in his throat. He closed his eyes. 

“They said, ‘Who’s Isabelle?’” 

“Oh, Jesse,” Tash whispered. 

“I went back to the park.” His eyes were still closed, images of the past playing back in his mind. “But the anomaly was gone. I don’t know what did it. Maybe it was the raptor I killed. Maybe it was because I left the camera behind. But something – something changed, and it meant that Isabelle was never even born.” 

Tash shook her head slowly. “I don’t understand…” 

“The butterfly effect, Tash,” Jesse said, opening his eyes and staring earnestly into hers. “The grandfather paradox. I changed the past, and it went on to have an effect in the present. Something so small – the death of one raptor – but it had a catastrophic impact. And I was the only one who knew.” He looked down at the Polaroid picture in his trembling fingers. “I was the only one who had any memory of Isabelle Grayson. When I showed my parents this picture, they said I must have found it in the street.” 

He wiped his eyes and put the photo back in his wallet. “So that’s why we can’t kill any of the creatures that come through,” he said firmly. “It’s impossible to know what effects our actions might have.” 

Tash realised she was staring at him, so she dropped her gaze down to her hands. She was overwhelmed by emotions, but the foremost one was pity. She and Joseph had had their lives destroyed by the anomaly, but at least they had had their family and friends – and each other – to grieve alongside. Jesse would have had no one. 

”Your parents didn’t believe you?” she asked quietly. 

“Nope,” he replied in a dark voice. “At first they were amused, then they were annoyed, and then they were worried. They sent me to counsellor after counsellor. All of them tried to tell me it was just in my head.” 

“I know how that feels,” Tash whispered. 

“They died in my last year of high school,” Jesse finished. “Car accident.” 

Tash’s heart was breaking. So much sorrow. “Jesse…” 

He shrugged, not looking at her. “Do you see what I mean when I say you have no idea what you are getting yourselves into?” he asked. “Perhaps you and your brother have some clue – you lost your parents, after all. But the others…” 

“Are you going to tell them?” Tash asked. “About Isabelle?” 

“If they try to challenge me on how we deal with the creatures, I’ll tell them why,” Jesse said. He looked down at his hands. “But it’s… hard to talk about. I mean, it was a long time ago. Fifteen years. But I’m so used to people not believing me, I don’t like opening up about it to anyone. There was only one person before you who believed the story. Her name’s Emma. She’s the one I call.” 

“Your friend?” Tash asked, her mouth tightening slightly as she thought of the cover-up. 

“My friend.” 

Tash hesitated. “How… How is she going to take care of this?” 

“Emma holds a position high up in a security organisation,” Jesse said, choosing his words carefully. “She has a lot of power.” 

Tash shook her head slowly, wondering about the power that could hide the reason for two people’s deaths from the rest of the world. The silence stretched on well into awkwardness before she finally stood up. “I should get home,” she said quietly. “Thanks for, um, the tea and everything.” 

“No. Thank you.” Jesse stood up to walk her out. “For listening.”

At the door she hesitated, looking back at him. A part of her wanted to never see him again – to forget the strange portal in the sky and everything it had the power to do – but the bigger part had an intuition that this was the first of many long conversations they would share. 

“Guess I’ll see you around,” she said. 

“See you around,” he echoed. 

She turned away, and he closed the door. 

****

**END OF EPISODE ONE**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are done with Episode One! Thank you so much to everyone who has followed the story so far. I'll be taking a bit of a break to finish up the next episode, and then we can get back into it – I'm super excited to follow and develop these characters over their journey. Make sure to tell me what you thought about the first ep – your faves, your fears – and I'll be back soon with Episode Two!


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